Helpful Score: 2
From Publishers Weekly
Though former television reporter Becker managed to interview Paula Sims, who was convicted of murdering her baby girl, this troubling tale is more sordid than insightful. In 1986, in the small Illinois town of Brighton, young mother Paula Sims reported that her 13-day-old daughter was stolen by a masked man with a gun. Baby Loralei's body was soon found in the nearby woods. But while police were skeptical of Paula's story and while she and her husband, Robert, failed lie detector tests, investigators had no real case. Becker traces Paula's unsavory history, including her childhood molestation by her grandfather. After having a second baby in the nearby town of Alton and finding herself pregnant a third time, Paula considered divorce from the dominating Rob but feared him. In 1989, Paula reported six-week-old Heather kidnapped. The baby was found in a trash can, and Paula was convicted of murder. She pleaded no-contest to obstructing justice in the earlier case, but prosecutors had no case against Rob. Interviewing Paula, Becker finds a haze of factors that contributed to Paula's damaged psyche, and psychologists suggest she may have suffered from postpartum psychosis.
Though former television reporter Becker managed to interview Paula Sims, who was convicted of murdering her baby girl, this troubling tale is more sordid than insightful. In 1986, in the small Illinois town of Brighton, young mother Paula Sims reported that her 13-day-old daughter was stolen by a masked man with a gun. Baby Loralei's body was soon found in the nearby woods. But while police were skeptical of Paula's story and while she and her husband, Robert, failed lie detector tests, investigators had no real case. Becker traces Paula's unsavory history, including her childhood molestation by her grandfather. After having a second baby in the nearby town of Alton and finding herself pregnant a third time, Paula considered divorce from the dominating Rob but feared him. In 1989, Paula reported six-week-old Heather kidnapped. The baby was found in a trash can, and Paula was convicted of murder. She pleaded no-contest to obstructing justice in the earlier case, but prosecutors had no case against Rob. Interviewing Paula, Becker finds a haze of factors that contributed to Paula's damaged psyche, and psychologists suggest she may have suffered from postpartum psychosis.
Helpful Score: 1
The hurt that this woman went through while being so controlled by her husband. She thought that she had met Mr. Right, but after the marriage it all went south. Those 2 un-lucky innocent young baby girls and the one lucky boy that survived. Just to go to the prison and see his mother and call her a baby killer, all put in his head by his daddy. This man didn't deserve to get the boy either and i think the courts were way OFF on deciding the sentence for this young lady. An easy read and gripping story for the TC lovers.
